Even before the pandemic forced us into isolation, some worried we faced a loneliness epidemic.  Surveys have shown we have fewer close confidants, and some scholars argue that new media technology limits our ability to connect.  Other research has challenged the handwringing about isolation and suggested the impact of social media is more complicated.

In 1991, Arnold Schwarzenegger made a guest appearance on the Saturday Night Live sketch Pumping Up with Hans and Franz.  Charles Atlas, legendary bodybuilder from an earlier era, appealed to kids with a comic strip story of sandy revenge.

In 1989, only one in four U.S. households owned an answering machine.  A decade later, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me! began offer a prize of Carl Kasell’s voice on contestants’ answering machines.